ISRO to launch Chandrayaan -3 (C-3) in the year 2023

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch its third mission to Moon.

The third mission, Chandrayaan-3 is expected to be launched by the organisation in the mid of the year 2023, somewhere between June-July.

Chandrayaan-3 is ISRO’s second attempt of sending the launch vehicle on the surface of the Moon, after the failed mission of Chandrayaan-2 on 7^th September 2019.

The latest version of the launch vehicle is the repeated version of the earlier mission, Chandrayaan-2, which is designed and engineered for smooth landing.

The earlier launch vehicle, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) did not land smoothly. In turn, it failed to land on the south pole of the moon, due to the last minute glitch in the landing guidance software.

The launching vehicle consisted of an orbiter, a lander and a rover. The glitch in the system led the rover, Pragyaan to not travel across the surface of the moon.

However, the latest version of the launch vehicle is designed for successful landing on the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan -3 is designed with a lander and a rover similar to that of the Chandrayaan-2 but, this C-3 is devoid of an orbiter since, the propulsion module of the C-3 is designed to act like a communication relay satellite.

On the other hand, ISRO plans to launch its maiden mission, Aditya –L1 to study the Sun.

The Solar Mission is India’s first space based mission to observe the Sun, to view and learn various solar activities and to observe the outer layers of the Sun, the Corona, the photosphere and the Chromosphere using electromagnetic and particle detectors.

The organisation has stated that the Solar Mission to be launched prior to the Chandrayaan-3, in the beginning of the year 2023.

featured image source: Economic Times